The Lady and the Dragon
by Aceofspades2255
Summary: When the Magic council wants inter guild cooperation many things happen. Minerva is selected to stay at Fairy Tail and work from their Guild for the next 6 months. This is after tartaros arc. No the guild didnt disband and Natsu didnt leave. He trained there. OOC characters.
1. Chapter 1

Ok so here is a NatsuXMinerva Story. I haven't seen anything that wasnt lemony fresh. and even that was sparce. SO i thought id help out. Hope yall like it. Read and Review please i like getting feedback.

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Chapter 1: When the Lady Arrives.

It's been one year since the devastation of the Tartaros Incident and the Council is being manned by the wizard Saints. Fairy Tail has been at the forefront of Inter guild Co-Operation efforts because of Master Makarov Natsu was hosting someone from the sabertooth guild while Lucy was heading to Sabertooth. Natsu had Erza over at his house to make sure his house was in tip top shape because they didn't know who would be arriving from Sabertooth. The entire house had been cleaned up from its normal pigsty state, for which Natsu was happy but rather angry because he couldn't find anything. They properly stocked his house so that they wouldn't have to share anything while this person was here. Fore that matter the visitor from Sabertooth would be staying for 6 months. Natsu was rather anxious to see who would be staying with him. The Morning that Lucy was set to leave most of the Guild was at the train station to see her off. As Lucy departed the train coming from Sabertooth arrived and someone that caused Erza to shutter stepped off.

"Well, well well, hello little fairies it looks like I'll be staying here for the foreseeable future." Minerva stated in a slightly taunting tone as she looked at Erza. "Why did they choose you?" Erza growled out with venom hanging off of every syllable.

"Well I was told to come here by the Council, Scarlet. I had no say in the matter but if I were to guess it would be because of what happened last year." She said with a slightly depressed note that it seemed only the Dragon Slayer picked up. "Well Minerva You'll be staying with me as I've been directed by the council as well. How about we drop off your luggage then I'll give you a tour of the town?" Natsu suggested before the conversation could get any more heated between the 2 S-class mages.

"I'll be staying with you? Well I don't see a problem with that as long as you don't try anything stupid with me little Fairy." Minerva stated with a mix of shock and satisfaction. "Are you kidding me Flame-Brain is too stupid to try understand what you mean by try something." Gray stated with complete certainty.

"Well then that just makes it easier for me to live with for the time being." Minerva stated before Natsu could say anything to counter gray. _"I highly doubt that by his eyes he is acting stupid on purpose. Just like he did in the Grand Magic Games."_ Minerva thought with almost absolute certainty but for her now was not the time for thinking she tossed her large back to Natsu and grabbed his arm for him to lead her to his house. "So where is your house Salamander?" She asked wondering why they had left the city.

"Well, first call me Natsu please everyone does. Second I live away from the city a small ways into the forest for privacy." He finished looking at Minerva with his signature toothy grin. As they started down the path to Natsu's house Minerva wanted to steer the conversation onto a certain topic. "Well, well, well it seems like this Fairy has more to him them just a one track mind. So I have to ask you _Natsu_ why do you lie to your friends?" Minerva smugly grinned.

"What are you talking about? I don't lie to them!?" Natsu growled out seething with rage at being called a Liar. "Do you want to fight me? Cause I'll be glad to fight you for that comment."

"You misunderstand Salamander, I can tell from that comment about you being too stupid to understand what I meant that you understand it completely. Along with the fact that the first thing you did when I got off the train, while quickly, was to scan my entire body. Making sure to study my chest and rear. So I ask again. Why are you lying to them?" Minerva smugly said stopping and poking a finger into Natsu's chest. "I smell someone nearby. How about we talk about this at my house.  
Natsu said while sniffing the air. He looked slightly concerned.

 **At Natsu's house.**

"This place is more rustic than I'm used to but it will suffice. I have a separate bed do I not?" Minerva was impressed with the house it was very nice for the mess of a dragon slayer she was used to seeing. "Well Of course you do it's down the hall to the left. There is a bathroom attached to it. I had a week to build it so please let me know if something is wrong, we can switch rooms until I get it fixed" Natsu stated so that she didn't get angry with him. She went down the hall to her room and explored it. It wasn't much, Bed, small closet, a bathroom with a tub-shower combo. She felt as though she was staying in a small quaint inn. As she left the room she sat down at the counter in the kitchen. "Would you like something for lunch? It's around lunch time and I'm getting hungry." Natsu asked with slight concern but more or less curiosity.

"You can cook? Well sure let's see how good the great salamander can cook." She smirked sitting down and grabbing the glass of water that he had set in front of her. "So spill it salamander. Why are you playing this game with them? While I admit it seems like you have fun with it I don't understand why you would want people thinking that you are an imbecile." Minerva finally impatiently asked as she still hadn't gotten her answer.

Natsu was in full swing cooking mode but he still heard "Well people talk a lot when they think you are stupid and they tend to over explain things and give key details about their plans. So I do it to get as much of an advantage as I possibly can but also when it comes to the whole relationship thing I never really thought it was that important. So I just kinda ignored it. I am assuming that Sting and Rogue have explained Dragon slayer mating to Sabertooth?" Natsu explained as he put some chopped vegetables in a pan.

"No they haven't but I'm assuming it's like anyone else you find someone and gradually get to know them blah blah blah sex, marriage that whole deal." But before she could finish her thought she was interrupted by the dragon slayer. "You would be wrong on that one then Minerva." Natsu said as he added some meat into the pan quickly frying it in the pan to lie over some rice. "I can fill you in on that later we have time but yeah that's why I act stupid to the guild. They underestimate me." Natsu said as he put the plate of food in front of Minerva who honestly was surprised that he could actually cook and didn't screw it up like sting always did. They kept having small conversation until they were ready to go into town. "Natsu do you really expect me to deal with stupid you while I'm here? Because after talking to you over lunch I am not dealing with that. It's very annoying." Minerva stated as they made their way back up the path toward the town.

"Don't worry I won't act stupid in private or on jobs if you'd like to go on any but in the guild I will." Natsu said mainly to tell her that he'd be doing both.

"Fine but I just noticed where is your flying blue cat? I don't remember its name." Minerva asked not wanting to be surprised by the Exceed.

"Happy has been staying with Wendy and Carla. He has been very happy since Carla actually recognizes him now." Natsu said happy for his best friend but lonely without him.

"Well no matter I enjoy it when you don't act stupid so when we are at your house you won't act that way." She stated more as a fact then a question. "Okay I do have to say you seem different than the last time we saw you. You seem I don't know more cheerful. Less of a bitch?" Natsu smirked as he said this but immediately received a smack to the head.

"I will admit I have changed but do NOT call me that. It reminds me of my father and I do not wish to relive that portion of my life. Concerning how I've changed. Sabertooth is much more…How shall I say family like now. It's still difficult to get used to for me but I don't wish to speak about that as of now. Let's see what Magnolia has to offer. I believe you owe me a tour of this lovely town." Minerva answered wanting to change the topic as fast as possible.

"That I do so why don't we start here!" Natsu cheerfully started bringing her mood back up seeing how the Dragon slayer couldn't be kept down at all. For the next few hours Natsu and Minerva happily roamed around magnolia seeing many of the grand sites that the city has to offer. Finally they ended the tour at a small bakery to get something sweet to eat.

"I never knew that this city had so much in it and I've never had a tart this good before! I may need to find a way for them to ship these to Sabertooth when I leave." Minerva stated not really talking to anyone just kind of saying it.

"Well I'm glad you like our fun little town here!" Natsu cheered as she just rolled her eyes at him and wondered if he really was smart or not.

"Well I have some questions for the Master of Fairy Tail so would you show me the way to the Guild hall? After that I'm thinking I would like to rest it's been a long day I could use a shower." Minerva stated. She was much more used to a regimented day not a go with the flow style that Natsu typically lived.

"Okay well I'll take you to the master then! Let's go!" He said as his goofy smile once again emerged.

 **A little while later at Fairy Tail.**

Minerva and Natsu arrived at the hall to many confused looks. Natsu didn't think much of them. Minerva on the other hand was very annoyed with the constant Gawking. She wasn't sure if it was her, since about a year ago they were enemies, or the fact that she was holding onto Natsu's arm. In her defense he had offered his arm to her so she took it.

As Minerva and Master Makarov went to his office to discuss some things Natsu stayed at the Bar having a drink waiting for his new roommate to be done. He was approached by most of the guild who were asking what she was like. "Seriously Natsu the last time we saw her she was trying to kill us!" A random guild member yelled.

"Well she's actually really nice so I don't think she'll be trying to kill us!" Natsu responded with a slight growl warning others not to bad mouth her in his presence. "Natsu I trust your judgement but if I feel that she's dangerous I will stop her." Erza stated with a concerned look on her face.

"Erza it'll be fine. Makarov wouldn't have agreed to her coming here if he thought there was a chance we could be getting hurt." Natsu countered knowing that he had made a good point.

"Well Natsu it looks like you'll be going on more S-Class quests." Minerva announced as she gracefully came down from the second floor.

"What do ya mean?" Natsu asked rather confused.

"Well I'm an S-class mage in Sabertooth and since I'm still a Sabertooth mage I still have the rank. But honestly I don't understand why this guild hasn't promoted you yet. Sting and Rogue are both S-Class and you trounced them at the GMG last year." Minerva explained. "I also need a slayer with me and you are the only one of appropriate power here so you'll be accompanying me on jobs for my stay here."

"That isn't up to you. I don't know how things work at Sabertooth but here we don't order each other around!" Erza snapped. "Plus he's not ready for S-Class!"

"AND WHY NOT!" Natsu shouted at Erza much to her surprise. "I've done so much for this guild! I've defeated Demons, A fucking wizard saint, and many others! What makes you honestly think I'm not ready! I want to go on them with Minerva! We talked about it earlier! Just because you don't want me to doesn't mean that I don't want to." He snapped shocking much of the guild.

"Well Scarlet I do believe that he asked you a question. I would also like to hear the answer because he used to be the talk of our guild with how many things he defeated and how much sting looked up to him." Minerva smirked.

Erza was stunned by Natsu's outburst. So stunned in fact that she was speechless. Never before had he done that. Minerva on the other hand was smiling almost too much. She was very happy at the state that Erza had been reduced to by Natsu. She was also quite happy with how the Guild reacted. "Well Scarlet I'm leaving the decision up to Natsu but we did talk about it. I'm not ordering him to do anything." Minerva stated quietly enough for Erza to here.

"Natsu I'm tired, it's been a long day would you show me the way to your house?" Minerva asked in a rather sultry voice just to mess with the guild.

"I believe I have a new target." Mira muttered with a devilish smile on her face as she imagined little Minerva Natsu children running around.

 **Later that night.**

Both Natsu and Minerva had taken showers and gotten ready to go to sleep. Natsu wore his regular sleep pants, No shirt and his scarf around his head. Minerva was wearing a set of matching sleep pants and long sleeve top. They were Light purple with a dark almost blood red polka dots, her hair was still wet from her shower, which she thought was very satisfying, no expecting it to be given that his house is so far away from the city. She had put her hair up in a ponytail. Something that Minerva wasn't entirely comfortable being around people in but she knew that Natsu didn't judge people by their clothing so she was rather certain that he wouldn't make a big deal about it. Later Natsu and Minerva said goodnight and both went to their respective rooms. After a few hours Minerva bolted upright out of sleep sweating and screaming, crying she scampered to the corner of the room facing the door in a dazed panic. Natsu with his advanced senses heard the screams and crying and woke up and ran to Minerva's room to find her in in that panicking state. He rushed over to the Panicking Minerva. "Minerva! MINERVA!" Natsu yelled trying to get her attention. But she wasn't having it. She tried to push him away from her as he grabbed her upper arms. He couldn't get her attention so he did the only thing he could think of to try and calm her down. He sat down near her grabbed her and brought her head to his chest as she continued to cry. He just held her waiting for her to either fall asleep or until she stopped crying. This went on for almost an hour until Minerva had cried herself back to sleep.

"What happened Minerva? Why were you so scared?" Natsu asked with a whisper as he put Minerva Back into her bed and put the blanket back over her. Natsu at this point couldn't sleep, he was busy thinking about what could have scared Minerva that much and he was thinking about Igneel. Natsu went out to his normal training ground to train and to try to get his mind off of Igneel. He did his normal training routine then went to grab a shower.

Minerva awoke at around 5ish in the morning, around 3 hours after her little episode took place, to find herself back in bed after the episode that night. She didn't understand how she had gotten back in the bed but she did realize that the entire time she had felt a pair of strong solid arms there with her. Now she was covered in sweat, she needed to clean up. After her shower she dressed for the day and walked out into Natsu's kitchen. She was surprised to find herself alone in his house. She wasn't really sure where he could have gone granted she didn't know the area so she didn't really want to explore in fear of not being able to get back. However before she could finish that train of thought she heard something coming from outside.

Minerva exited the hall into the kitchen area and saw a mop of pink hair outside the window of the kitchen window. He was muttering to himself. "Minerva I know you're there." Natsu simply stated with no real undertone to his words.

"How did you know?" Minerva asked.

"You have two dragon slayers in your guild and still have to ask?" Natsu asked rather stunned that she forgot an important detail about dragon slayers.

"Well I kind of had a bad night so I forgot a small detail. Is that a problem?" Minerva scolded.

"No I was just curious and kind of am putting it lightly. Is everything okay? You were really freaked out when I found you a few hours ago?" Natsu asked with concern seeing the normal Minerva in front of him.

"I don't want to talk about it, but I will thank you for everything you did." Minerva stared rather coldly into his eyes in an attempt to convince him not to pursue the issue.

"I'll let it go for now Minerva because you're my friend but I'm still concerned. Plus there is no need to thank me I'm doing what any friend would do." Natsu smiled at the elegant woman who was now blushing slightly.

" _Why am I blushing? What am I a young girl? But I am curious as to why I am so quickly his friend after everything that I've done?"_ Minerva thought as she spaced out. For the next few hours she and Natsu sat on the front porch and talked which was new for her because at Sabertooth nobody really treated her like a person they treated her like royalty because she was among the strongest in the guild. It was blatantly obvious that Natsu really didn't care about that he wanted to meet the Minerva others failed to see. It was a refreshing change for the Territory mage. Even though Natsu tried to coax out the reason for her freak out that previous night he had no such luck because the Sabertooth heiress would clam up the minute that anything like that was brought up always ending in a stream of apologies form Natsu.

As it got closer to 8 o'clock the territory mage and Fire dragon slayer made their way toward the guild hall to pick up a mission. As they approached the doors they flew open to see Mira holding a request form. "Hey guys! I have a job for you Minerva! Sabertooth sent it over as soon as it came in it specifically requests you!" Mira cheered in an excited voice as this was Minerva's first job at Fairy Tail, even if she was a seasoned mage Fairy Tail had a reputation for above and beyond excitement.

"Well MiraJane I would be happy to look at the request but I don't take all jobs that request me. Sabertooth gets quite a few so Master Sting must have thought that this one would catch my eye. Also did a letter come with this from Sting?" Minerva asked as she grabbed the request from Mira's outstretched hand.

"Yes a letter did come with it! Were you expecting one?" She pulled a letter out that had an elaborate Sabertooth Wax seal on it.

"Why yes I was Sting was worried as to how you would receive me at the guild. I told him it would be fine but he was still worried the poor thing" She said with feigning concern at the end to see a certain fire mage start to steam for a second.

"Well what's the job Minni?" Natsu asked with his typical grin only to get a territory infused punch to the back of the head. "You will not refer to me as that, it is Minerva or milady. Those are the only things you will call me Salamander." Minerva scolded as she opened the letter.

"Yes Minerva…." Natsu whimpered as he rubbed the back of his head where she had hit him. "Well now you know to never call me that I shouldn't have to hit you. Now let's see what sting says…." A few seconds go bye as she reads it then she laughs. "Well mainly it says call if there are any problems and Hello Salamander. That's about the extent of what I guess I should expect from him." Minerva chuckled using her territory to deposit the letter somewhere.

Lady of Sabertooth Needed

50,000,000 Jewel Reward

Contact Mayor for full details upon acceptance of the Job

Mission type: High Class Demon Extermination

Location: Country Seven

Town: Across the Bay in Saibhreas Gan Teorainn

Mission Class: SS

The name of the town confused Natsu and the rest as they typically didn't have to deal with requests from other countries. Minerva explained that Sabertooth's guild was at the top of Fiore and that the country of Seven was to the north of Fiore and had a Peninsula jutting out into a bay that it shares with Fiore. "Well if it's a demon extermination Mission we need to stop by my house to retrieve a few items. When will you be ready to leave Natsu? It will take us about a day to get to Harimau. Mira would you please register the job? Or when we stop by Saber will they need to register it?" Minerva said as she stared at the job request.

"I can register it since a Fairy Tail Mage is accompanying you!" Mira assured her.

"I'll go get a duffle. Does it say what kind of demon it is?" Natsu asked as he started toward his house to get some cloths and supplies for the mission. "You okay Minerva?" He asked with a concerned tone as he looked back at her. She was sporting a pale look, paler then she usually did.

"I'm fine I would like to get going as soon as possible Natsu please hurry and get your things. We leave in 30 minutes. Meet me at the train Station. I'm going to get a tart from that delicious bakery!" Minerva said as she turned away from the group and walked toward the town.

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Saibhreas Gan Teorainn : Infinite Wealth in irish.

Harimau: Tiger in Malaysian. both were acquired through google translate.

Hope you liked chapter one.


	2. Chapter 2

So i wrote this today. Shit gets real later on. Read and review. I know that people might not like how i handled one situation but its my story brah. thanks for the support guys. **I dont own fairy tail. That ish belongs to hiro. Disclaimer brah.**

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Chapter 2: The Demon Job.

Natsu and Minerva made their way to the Sabertooth Guild in order to get something from Minerva's house that she claimed would help them against this demon. Natsu was hesitant to get on the train but Minerva "Encouraged" him to get on and he sat opposite to her in the compartment. Minerva knew exactly how sick a dragon slayer could be on a train. She lost a good pair of shoes because of Sting. As they arrived at Harimau Station Minerva got Natsu off the train only for him to stare up at the sky and shoot a jet of fire out of his mouth yelling "I'M ALIVE!" Natsu got a full force punch to the back of the head for doing that.

"Have some semblance of normalcy please. Sabertooth is respected in this town. We do not need any unwanted destruction or mayhem. Plus that would put a stain on my reputation. Do you want me to be rather _upset_ with you?" She glared at him making the fiery mage shrink under her gaze.

"No Minerva I don't want you to be upset. I apologize for my behavior." Natsu mumbled not wanting her to hear the end of the sentence but she did. She just smirked as she knew he normally didn't act this way.

Minerva and Natsu made their way to the Sabertooth guild hall. It was the largest building in the town. Easily 10 times the size of the next largest building it attracted all of the attention in the city. In the front above the massive doors there was a massive Sabertooth tiger statue bearing its fangs. Natsu was amazed at how large the hall was. As they approached the building Sting met them by throwing open the doors. "MILADY! NATSU! What are you both doing here?" Sting shouted as Yukino, Rogue, Orga, and Lucy walked up next to him smiling seeing her teammate. Sting and Rogue's expressions changed as they took a few sniffs of the air. They hid the snarl that was forming but Minerva caught it and she gave them a questioning look. Sting however ignored it and continued with the greeting.

"Well Minerva said that she needed something from her home before we went on the job you sent over!" Natsu said as he tried to get back to the reason they were there. He received curious looks from Yukino and Lucy.

"What job would that be Natsu?" Lucy asked.

Demon extermination! It'll be fun!" Natsu cheered.

"You two aren't going alone. I'm sending a few of my mages with you just to make sure. Dobengal and Gregor are heading with you. I want won't have another Guild's wizard getting hurt while on a job for me. Besides 4 S-Class wizards are better than 4." Sting dictated to which everyone could only just shrug and say fine. "Milady if you'd go get whatever you needed from your home I wish to talk to Natsu in private." Sting said with a bit of an edge in his voice.

"Okay Sting I was just planning on showing him the guild then heading out but if you insist I'll go get it." Minerva said slightly confused as to why sting was suddenly so assertive and not giving someone an option. With a confused look at Sting Minerva left to grab whatever she needed, by the looks on their faces this talk would take a while.

"Hey Sting! Lucy and I are going on a job! We'll be back tomorrow!" Yukino said as she and Lucy went to leave the area.

"Be safe. " Sting yelled back.

"You. Get in my office. **NOW**." Sting Commanded ad Natsu just looked at him.

Natsu was not fazed by his tone. He walked up to Sting and got close to his ear. "I'll talk with both of you but don't talk to me like that I haven't done anything!" Natsu said as he walked next to Rogue who was guiding him to the office.

 **In The Master of Sabertooth's office.**

"What are you thinking marking her!?" Sting shouted at Natsu.

"Rogue is this office sound proofed? I'd rather this conversation not be heard by the entire town." Natsu calmly asked surprising both of the Dragon slayers with his under control attitude.

"Yes it is Natsu so would you mind answering his question." Rogue sternly asked hoping to get an answer for what was happening.

"Sting you know as well as I do that we have no control over who it picks. I can tell you marked Luce. You don't see me freaking out. There isn't a problem." Natsu calmly stated. "And I know that Rogue has marked…" Natsu was suddenly struck by Rogue.

"Shut up! I know how it works! To be completely honest I'm surprised that you do!" Rogue shouted as he lost what remained of his composure.

After about an hour of talking all three dragon slayers emerged from the office with not the most pleasant looks on their faces but they were no longer trying to kill each other. Minerva was getting angry because she wanted to get started. "What the hell took you so long!?" She scolded the three as they approached Minerva, Dobengal and Gregor.

"It is a dragon slayer thing." The three said in unison earning a glare that made MiraJane's look like a bubble gun.

"We are late and **I** am never late when I accept a job. Do not earn my ire. You will not enjoy it." She snarled making all the dragon slayers cower.

"Let's **Go.** " Minerva said as she left in the direction of the harbor. Neither Dobengal nor Gregor wanted to talk for they were terrified of Minerva when she is pissed….as everyone should.

As they headed toward the Harbor Natsu noticed a rather ornate looking ship with Sabertooth banners flying from it. Natsu paled as they approached the ship. "Get on." Minerva demanded shooting a glare at Natsu that pacified any resistance he was thinking about mounting. Dobengal, Gregor and Natsu all had a large room in the cabin while Minerva had the only actual room on the ship for privacy, the captain set sail and they were off to complete their job.

 **A few hours later on the boat approaching the Harbor.**

"Natsu? I wish to speak with you." Minerva called from the room. There was no response. "Gregor. Would you bring Natsu in here for me please I wish to speak with him?" Minerva asked Gregor.

"Yes Milady I will be there with him in a moment. He is currently off the side of the ship." Gregor responded. Moments later there was a knock on the door.

"Enter" Minerva called out as Gregor opened the door with the Pinkette on his back looking quite queasy. "Gregor please put him on the couch and leave us please."

"Yes Milady. If you require anything else milady do not hesitate to ask." Gregor said as he exited the cabin.

"Natsu? I wish to know what you, Sting and Rogue were talking about that took so long. Will you tell me?" Minerva asked knowing that at this point in time Natsu was at his weakest.

All she got was murmurs and gurgles. Out of nowhere Minerva had an idea. She came out of the Closet type room in a slightly more reminiscent of a Cheongsam but still down to her to her ankles with the sides split up to her hip the difference from her normal outfit was it had a collar and her sides were covered. She definitely used this for more winter climates. Along with her typical elbow length gloves and feather boa. She sat down next to Natsu and brought his head down to her lap. Natsu's queasiness soon started to dissipate but he was not in his normal state of mind. Natsu was infatuated with the scent that now filled his nostrils. He being as motion sick as he was didn't really know what he smelled. The smell of Lotus blossoms and petrichor was overwhelming his senses.

"Natsu can you tell me what you talked about with Sting and Rogue?" She asked again hoping that the slayer might actually be able to talk to her.

Natsu tried to speak but noticing that a hand was slowly going through his hair soothing his motion sickness enough for him to finally fall asleep leaving Minerva asking herself why she continued to do this. She couldn't really answer that question but she couldn't find a reason to stop either.

 **In the Town of Saibhreas Gan Teorainn.**

After the boat arrived in the harbor Minerva got Gregor to take Natsu off of the ship and sit with him until the dragon slayers senses were back to normal. Minerva was paying the Docking fee as Gregor and Dobengal got their equipment and waited for her. When Natsu regained his senses he looked around to see a mix of Fiore's culture with a heavy influence of something he'd never seen before. The buildings looked like ornate ships that had been taken out of the water and flipped upside down. They lined the streets along with houses that had been sunken into the land to look like they were hills. Some of the buildings looked round and very large he was in awe. Natsu had never seen buildings like these before. Along with these weird styles of buildings the roads were dirt paths and carts and animals littered the port area. In the center of this port city was a very large hill that formed a circle at the bottom of the hill was a palisade that surrounded it with sharp points at the top of each log that formed it. When they were all prepared they started moving along the main road that stretched from the port to the hill. To the northeast of the town Natsu saw a large mountain with a push rail cart system headed toward it with a large amount of people pushing carts filled with ore and precious metals to the town. Natsu was in awe and Minerva caught this quickly. "Have you never been out of Fiore before? It's quite a shock is it not?" she smiled knowing that he was hit with culture shock at the difference.

"N-N-No I've been to Bosco before with Gramps but it was a long time ago and it wasn't this different." Natsu responded as he continued to look around and listen to the strange sounds that the people were making which he figured out was them talking. "Hey Minerva?"

"Yes Natsu what is it?" Minerva answered with a quick look at him.

"Why are they making strange sounds and looking at us?" Natsu asked feeling kind of awkward with everyone starring at him and muttering in the strange language.

"They have never seen someone with pink hair and dressed as you are because of the climate here. It is quite cold and you are wearing an open vest, three quarter length pants, and a scarf with sandals. You also have one sleeve which they find hilarious because your other arm is very bandaged. They think you got dressed in the dark." As she translated what the people were saying she could see the fire of anger forming at the statements. "Don't be angry. They haven't seen a Fire Dragon Slayer before. I know you don't get cold but as you can see Gregor is in a heavy Fur coat, I also have covered up and Dobengal is always like this so we three are dressed. You aren't and it's strange to them. They are also asking what I am saying as most don't understand us. Also to answer the original question it's the language of Seventh. Since we are in their country I will be speaking it to the contact for our job. Don't worry I speak it fluently so I will translate." Minerva said soothing the anger she had seen.

"Ok I that makes sense. Sorry for getting angry there for a moment. Also if you guys get cold let me know I'll raise the temperature of the air immediately around us. It works best if we are in a room if we aren't you need to be very close to me." He said as he tried to offer some sense of help to his team who looked very cold.

With that offer Minerva moved close and grabbed his arm. "I will take you up on that offer Salamander. I do so despise the cold." Minerva said as she snaked her arm around his. She was quite relieved when the air temperature started to rise and cut the edge of the chill.

They continued down the path until they hit the main gate of the Palisades. The Guards stopped the four mages and spoke "Luaigh do Ghnó leis an Méara?" the man asked. (What is your business with the Mayor?)

Minerva answered that they were answering a job request that was issued to the Sabertooth Guild in Fiore. She also stated that she was specifically requested pointing to the top of the Job request form when they gave her a skeptical look. She sighed and teleported right behind them with her territory magic to prove that she was who she said she was. They immediately believed her given her reputation for being ruthless the didn't want any trouble but stopped Natsu because he didn't have the Sabertooth guild mark and were very suspicious of the fire mage. "Cé tusa?" (Who are you?) Came from the guard in a low shout.

"Is é sin an Salamander."(That is the Salamander) Was all Minerva had to say for the guards to immediately back off. Natsu was confused at first but then he remembered that the Magic council existed in most countries as it was an International coalition of Mages, as were the Wizard Saints. He just grinned his signature grin and caught up to the rest of the group that was being led by a man.

"Thank you Minerva, I didn't know what they were saying." Natsu grinned as he thanked the Lady of Sabertooth.

"It is nothing at all Natsu. You are part of our team we can't have them stopping us from our job." Minerva responded with a small smile.

Behind the Palisade there was small wooden scaffolding that let the guard's patrol the outer edge of the fort then the hill began to go up but behind the gate was a path that led into the hill. It was all squared off stone that formed a hall into the hill. As they progressed into the hill they could see many rooms built into the ground. It looked large enough to house the town if push came to shove. There was already a good bit of the workers in the hill for some strange reason. Around 50 meters into the fortress the workers that were resting started watching them walk chanting something. As they continued they started hearing a synchronized stomp as the men all shouted in gruff voices " **Bua, Bua, Bua** ". (Victory) This caught Minerva off guard but she kept up the stone face. Natsu could sense the Happiness that sprang up from their arrival but kept quiet because he was with Sabertooth. He thought it was kind of funny how it started off as a job for Fairy Tail but morphed into a Sabertooth Job. They had finally reached the middle of the structure and at this point as they started to climb the stairs up to the Building on top the entire hill was shaking from the massive amount of people stomping and chanting. It made Natsu grin because they were doing something that would benefit a lot of people but he was nervous as to what this Demon had done to force that many people into a fortress. They got to the top where a group of Men heavily laden with weapons were sitting around a table; the man that was leading them announced their presence "Na Mages Sabertooth tagtha!" (The Sabertooth mages have arrived.)

To which the man at the head of the table stood up and spread his arms in a friendly manner shouting "Fáilte go dtí an baile an Rachmais Gan Teorainn!" (Welcome to the Town of Infinite Wealth) to which the men at the table raised their fists and shouted a greeting that none of the mages caught then waited for a response.

Minerva Spoke and broke the silence "Beannachtaí tá mé Lady Minerva" (Greetings I am Lady Minerva) She bowed respectfully then continued, "Seo é Dobengal, Gregor agus an Salamander." (This is Dobengal, Gregor, and The Salamander) She raised her arms in a presenting fashion to the mages behind her smiling as the warriors in the hall had looks of complete awe. They were in the presence of incredibly powerful mages and that was when the warriors felt the magical pressure coming off of the group but in particular the man that had been identified as The Salamander and the woman in the front that had introduced them. The Mayor Clapped for them causing all of the warriors to begin clapping. Then the mayor asked in a Fiorian "Could we into my room?" It was broken but still understandable.

The group went into the room behind the Head of the table to discuss the job with the mayor. In the room there was a large desk with a window in the center of the wall that was surrounded by two bookshelves on either side; on the opposite side of the desk were 4 chairs. After the Mayor had sat down a man approached and stopped next to him he introduced himself as an interpreter for the mayor spoke broken Fiorian. "The mayor wishes to thank you Lady Minerva for responding to his urgent Job request with such a swiftness." He began "He also wishes to let you know that because of the nature of the Demon we are currently facing it was a gift from the gods that The Salamander is with you. While we do not know what type of demon it is we do know that every mage that we have sent has been killed. This includes a few lost magic users and some other very powerful mages. We hope that you understand what you have accepted." The man finished.

"We do we would like to discuss the specifics such as the location of the Demon and what kind it is, we would also like to know what is had been doing?" Minerva asked in a respectful tone for the mayor to respond to the man interpreting.

"The demon is like that of The Destroyer Abaddon. We do not know what the creature is fully capable of but it was a calamity when we originally met it in combat. That is why those men are in the fortress they were injured during the original battle." The interpreter stated with an almost emotionless tone that panged a bit of rage within Natsu. He was quieted by Dobengal who motioned for him to stop as the room had started to heat up.

"It was located in a mine to the Northwest. We shut it down the minute we heard an explosion come from the mountain one night. Luckily no one was working for it was a night of an annual festival. We sent a scout to assess the damage and he reported a large dark figure in front of the mines entrance not moving but blasting craters into the ground in front of the mine as if it were making a barricade." This made all the mages wonder what this demon was.

"Okay we will set off for the mine now. What would you like as proof that we have killed it?" Minerva wondered.

"Well as this is a first for our town we looked into it and decided that we wish to have the head of the monster as proof." The Interpreter stated conveying the wishes of the Mayor. With a bit more discussion about pay happening the group departed from the Fortress and made their way toward the Mountain. Natsu was a bit worried he didn't know what type of Magic Gregor used and Gregor wouldn't tell him he just said "Wait you shall see Lord Dragon."

The group finally arrived at the entrance of the mine to find a disaster zone. Craters were everywhere, and scorch makes in the shapes of bodies were everywhere. They could tell many people hadn't made it back after confronting this beast. The remnants of battle stained the landscape as the group walked up to the mine. "This place feels wrong. I can't put my finger on it." Dobengal stated.

"I feel it too. It looks as though Natsu and Gregor do not. Maybe their magic isn't affected like ours is." Minerva said eyeing them strangely.

"Don't ask me I can feel it but it's not bad to me." Natsu said making them all look at him.

"Yeah I sense demonic power here how do you not feel the oppressive nature of it?" Dobengal asked rather confused.

"I don't know but I smell that bastard and it smells like rotting flesh and destruction. It also smells like Zeref." Natsu stated with a deep rumbling growl.

The group was stunned that he could smell Zeref on the demon. They didn't know how he knew what he smelled like. Minerva decided that that was a discussion for another time. They decided that the demon most likely wouldn't come out of the mine so they reluctantly went in knowing that the Demon had an advantage in the wide tunnels. The mine itself was large. Wide, tall, and long tunnels leading into large caverns that had been carved out by decades of workers. They slowly walked through the tunnels following Natsu's nose as he was following the stench of death. After a few hours they were exceedingly far into the mine and Natsu wasn't exactly sure how much farther they had to go. They moved into a smaller corridor until it met a very large room. Natsu stopped and put his arm up to stop the group. "It's here. Be on guard." Natsu said with a look of a warrior focused on battle. Dobengal drew a sword and got into a battle position. Minerva scanned the surrounding room. It was a large hall laden with tables. Unexpected for a mine but given how far down they were she didn't find it odd. The room was so large they couldn't see the other side but in the middle of the room there was a large throne like chair. The demon was sitting in it leaning forward with its elbows on its knees and its hands on its head. It looked like a regular man. Except it was almost 10 feet tall and looked encumbered by Elfman sized muscles. With large ram like horns jutting from its head that went a good 3 feet in a curling shape.

A demonic laughter is heard throughout the room causing Natsu to cover his ears from the echo. This was a mistake. Natsu knew that the demon was aware of their presence beforehand. _**"HAHAHAHA it seems more lambs have come to the slaughter. I wish to welcome such fools to their resting place! AHHAHAHA DO you not see that it was pointless for filth to enter such a place! HEHEHEHEHE"**_ the demonic cackle made Dobengal nervous. They may have been S-class mages, except Natsu, but he didn't know if they could do this and the doubt was eating away at him. He had to push it away for the time being but it nagged at him.

"Who are you demon? Are you one from the Books of Zeref?" Minerva bravely spoke but Natsu could hear the worry in her voice.

" _ **Be silent human. Know your place when speaking to your betters! I will bring this world to its knees starting with this place. I shall call all demons to unite as one and destroy the infestation that is the Human species! DO not talk as if you are familiar with us!"**_ the demon shouted with rage in its voice looking down on Minerva.

"We _humans_ are nothing to be looked down upon you walking abomination." Gregor finally spoke up. He cast off his coat and a Massive magic circle appeared. Natsu thought the magic felt similar to Jellal's Heavenly body magic but he wasn't sure.

 **Light Make: Heavenly Spear of Justice** Gregor put his hands together and as he spread them apart a Spear made of light appeared in his hand. He hurled it straight at the demons head. The demon jumped out of his chair avoiding the spear and Shooting a jet of fire at them. The demon thought that he had wiped the stain of mages out but suddenly he heard a noise from behind the Fire.

Slurping echoed throughout the room as the fire swirled and tornadoed s chair avoiding the spear and Shooting a jet of fire at them. The demon thought that he had wiped the stain of mages out but suddenly he heard a noise from behind the Fire.

Slurping echoed throughout the room as the fire swirled and churned toward the open maw of the Pinkette. "Not gonna work asshole" Natsu shouted. The Demon was astonished he hadn't met a mage that could consume fire before. It intrigued him as he landed in front of the now obliterated throne.

" _ **Well it seems you have spunk for lowly humans. How about we have sum motherfuckin fun."**_ The demon smugly shouted with a hint of sadism not even trying to be hidden. Dobengal tried to flank the demon by teleporting to the left side of the room from the group using his sword to send a rainbow fire slash in the demons direction. Gregor, in the meantime, sprinted the opposite direction as Dobengal and hurled Light arrows at the demon. The demon was continuously on the defensive having dodged the flurries of attacks being thrown at him. Before his eyes widened at the realization he had forgotten about the other two mages. Behind him he heard a rumbling growl. **FIRE DRAGONS ROAR** a massive river of fire was unavoidable at this time. The demon was soon engulfed in the fiery river that was expended from the dragon slayers mouth. When the flames settled Dobengal was shocked to see a smirking demon.

" _ **You. YOU WILL BE THE LAST TO DIE! HAHAHAHA FOR THAT WAS A GREVIOUS TRANSGRESSION! HEHEHEHEHE!"**_ the cackling of the demon became very annoying. Minerva was chanting something under her breathe. Natsu couldn't figure out what it was. It was then that Dobengal started to run only for the ground to explode underneath him hurling him across the room and being caught by the demon. Natsu ran full tilt at the demon to retrieve his teammate. The Demon expected this and dodged the fiery fist that was launch at him. He started squeezing Dobengal in an effort to crush him.

"Dobengal!" Minerva shrieked as she saw he friend being slowly crushed to death. Gregor was charging now. Straight toward the Demon. Suddenly upon Gregor's right arm a familiar black mark started to appear. **LIGHT DEVIL SLAYERS RESOUNDING FURY** A bolt of light shot out of his outstretched hand piercing the Demons arm that was crushing their comrade. Natsu grabbed Dobengal and carried him away as they saw Minerva get closer. She rolled to the side of a slash the demon threw at her and started chanting while swirling her arms in a circular motion.

 **Niel Wielg Mion**

 **Terse Elcantaeus**

 **Yagdo Rigora!**

As she finished the chant she spread her arms out summoning a gigantic stone statue with intricate designs covering its entire body. The God like statue emerged directly underneath the demon. When the statue finally emerged fully it exploded into a massive explosion of light. Throwing Gregor, Natsu and the severely injured Dobengal across the room. Minerva was breathing very heavily as Natsu and Gregor got up and moved toward her. They didn't know what had happened to the demon. Abruptly a hand flew out of the smoke and grabbed Minerva by the throat and picked her up. The demon brought her closer to his face bearing a mouth filled with sharp animal like fangs. All Natsu could hear was the gasps and sputters as Minerva tried to breathe as her wind pipe was being crushed. "You need to let her go this instant." Came a growl from the Dragon slayer.

" _ **Oh are you going to make me? She is the best challenge I've gotten from you mages! I take no orders from you…"**_ he couldn't finish his sentence as a knee connected with his elbow smashing it from its bent position to the complete opposite completely shattering the bones that made up his elbow. The unexpected speed and strength of the hit caused the demon to cry out in pain. "I gave you one warning. Now you face the consequences for your foolish actions." Natsu growled.

Minerva couldn't believe the speed and strength she had just witnessed from the dragon slayer. It was nothing that she had seen from him previously. Minerva caught her breath; she was helped up by Gregor as Natsu started a relentless assault of attacks toward the demon pushing him back across the room at an alarming pace. In the middle of the assault they heard "CHECK ON DOBENGAL IVE GOT THIS FUCKER!" Minerva's eyes widened as everything had happened so fast she forgot that Dobengal had been i9n the demons grasp too.

Both Minerva and Gregor rushed to Dobengal's side. He was in extraordinarily bad shape. He was still breathing but it was erratic and neither Minerva nor Gregor knew healing spells. Thinking swiftly Minerva had an idea. "Gregor! Go help Natsu I'm going to teleport him to town!" She said panicking not wanting to lose one of the only family she had left.

"Milady!" Gregor shouted at Minerva not getting her attention. "MILADY!" Still nothing. "MINERVA!" Gregor got in her face and finally got her attention. "You don't have the power to make it that far you will use all your power if you do that! We can't lose you too! Stop panicking! If you get him out of this chamber and stabilize him he'll be okay!" Gregor said when out of nowhere Natsu Flew past them into a wall. "NATSU!" both shouted in unison.

Gregor shop up and looked for the demon unfortunately the demon was directly in front of the Light mage and territory mage. He grabbed both by the head and tossed them over his shoulder and advanced on Dobengal. _**"The first to perish from the insolent mages, do you think he would like to die quickly or painfully. No matter his life ends now!"**_ the demon bellowed out in visible joy as he kicked the body of Dobengal into a crater against the wall. Dobengal was flat on the ground face up. The demon lifted his foot and put it on Dobengal's chest. Natsu slowly started to lift himself up and looked. His eyes widened in fear. Minerva and Gregor both were staggering to their feet. _**CRUNCH SQUISH GURGLE**_

Minerva's eyes widened at the sounds and stared at the body. Gregor's eyes started to tear but he made no sound. Where Dobengal was the foot of the demon was planted in the ground with a coating of blood on it. Blood was leaking out of Dobengal. He was dead. No one could save him now. A roar erupted from the downed dragon slayer as his eyes grew into slits looking much more reptilian than normally. Small patches of scales formed on Natsu's face and arms. Crimson fire erupted from his body completely coating him in hellish flames that looked like blood. It was very obvious he was pissed. The demon in the meantime had walked over to Minerva. She sputtered and tried to block his arm with a territory imbued swipe forming a barrier but to no avail. The demon had her by the throat again. Seeing this Gregor jumped at the demon but was bitch slapped by the demons broken arm to Minerva's horror the arm began to crunch and reverts back to a non-broken state. The demon didn't notice Natsu as he was focused on finishing the mages that were shocked. **FIRE DRAGONS INFERNAL TALON** Natsu shouted as his foot connected with the demons face propelling the demon across the room. Again. "MINERVA SNAP OUT OF IT I NEED YOU HERE!" Natsu roared as he sent a fireball after the demon. "DO YOU THINK HE WOULD WANT YOU DWELLING ON HIM WHEN YOUR LIFE IS STILL IN DANGER? NO I KNOW HE WAS YOUR FAMILY BUT HE'D WANT THIS DEMON PRICK TO SUFFER FOR HURTING YOU! I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!"

Hearing this Minerva got up and summoned as much of her magic power as possible. Natsu was right. He was dead but they all would be if they didn't keep fighting. With a screech she took off following Natsu as they relentlessly assaulted the Demon. **FIRE DRAGONS FLAMES OF PERDITION** a massive wave of fire surrounded Natsu and he began the assault. Gregor suddenly appeared next to them and was seething with absolute rage.

 **FIRE DRAGONS BRILLIANT FLAME**

 **LIGHT DEVIL SLAYERS SWORD OF MICHEAL**

 **FIRE DRAGONS SCORCHING TALON**

 **LIGHT MAKE ARROWS**

 **FIRE DRAGONS IRON FIST**

 **TERRITORY EXPLOSION**

 **FIRE DRAGONS IMMOLATION FISTS**

 **LIGHT DEVIL SLAYER SECRET ART: ARCHANGELS BOW OF TRUTH**

The onslaught lasted for quite a while the entire time the demon muscled through the attacks. At the end Minerva was almost out of magic power along with Gregor and Natsu. They heard the demon speak again this time not in a cackling manner or mocking but completely serious _**"You mages. You are the greatest challenge I've faced in a very long time. I feel as though before you die you have earned the right to know my name. I AM ZER'EL. THE USURPER OF ABADDON THE DESTROYER THROWN! HAHAHAAH"**_

None of them could believe that the demon was still alive after so many hits. He hadn't done many attacks to them but his sheer strength alone was insurmountable. Gregor thought to himself " _Should I try it?"_

"Minerva! What did you get from your house that could help kill this damn thing! Whatever it is we could really use it right about now!" spoke Natsu who was kneeling beside Minerva as all three of them were breathing heavily.

Minerva grabbed teleported a small dagger in front of Natsu. "This is imbued with ancient magic. I was saving it for any remaining Tartaros member but I can't kill them if I'm dead. You have been the one getting in the closest. Would you be able to end this demon filth for Dobengal?" Minerva asked almost breaking into tears at the mention of their dead companion.

"Of course Minerva. Gregor give me cover! I'm going back in!" Natsu shouted snapping Gregor out of his thoughts. "Okay Salamander!" Gregor shouted back launching another wave of arrows at Zer'el. Zer'el was backed up to a cliff as the opposite side of the room they were on was open to another chasm.

Natsu ran as fast as he could toward Zer'el holding the dagger backwards so he could just bring it down and stab the demon. Surrounded by the arrows of light he jumped as the demon covered himself in defense of the arrows. Suddenly the demon felt a dagger in his chest. Sputtering coughing blood was coming out of his mouth as Natsu plunged the dagger back into the demons chest. "YOU LIKE IT NOW YOU BIG BITCH!" Gregor yelled as he hurled a Devil slayer spear into a stab wound. Making the demon sputter more as this attack went through his body. He blew Natsu off of himself with an attack. Gregor, seeing this ran at the demon while continuing to hurl spears at him. He took Natsu's place while the dagger was still in the demons chest. He grabbed the dagger and plunged it into the demon a few more times. Teetering on the edge of the chasm the demon was close to falling. Minerva was struggling to get up; she saw what was happening and thought that they might actually be able to avenge Dobengal.

" _ **HUMAN DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK YOU CAN KILL THE LORD OF DESTRUCTION?!"**_ Zer'el shouted through the gurgles he was making as he was coughing up blood. He roared out in pain as Gregor, who was still on top of his chest twisted the dagger harder and farther into the demon. _**"YOU ARE COMING WITH ME LITTLE MAGE!"**_ Zer'el knowing his time was about to end moved to jump into the chasm knowing that neither he nor the mage currently stabbing him would be able to survive either. Gregor turned to Natsu and tossed the dagger to the ground and smiled.

"Swear on your life you will take care of Milady for me." He calmly said as Natsu sprinted toward the pair as they toppled over the edge. **LIGHT DEVIL SLAYERS RAGE** From Gregor's mouth a massive torrent of pure white light emerged and engulfed the falling demon. "I swear….I swear I'll take care of her…." Tears swelled in Natsu's eyes as he had gotten to the edge to late and they were already gone. The Light Devil slayer sacrificed himself to dispose of the demon. Minerva was crushed having watched two of her family die in front of her eyes in the span of a few hours. She collapsed on the floor. _"There might be a chance to teleport him back here!"_ She thought as she sprinted over to the edge trying desperately to find his figure in the darkness. She couldn't see the light mage.

Minerva didn't even know if she could cry. The job was done but at what cost she thought not knowing what to do. Natsu walked over to her and sat down. He didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say. He may not have known them very well but this was Natsu he thought of them as his friends. He just waited for Minerva to do something. He wanted to help but didn't know what to do finally he decided. After an unknown amount of time he got to his feet and pulled Minerva to her feet as well bringing her into a warm safe embrace. He just held her as she started to cry. "Shhhh it's okay. Let it out. It's not weak to show sadness Minerva. It's what makes us human. It shows us how much we really care. Neither of them would want their deaths to keep you down. You are a strong mage. You are a strong woman. Let it all out then we pack up and find Gregor's body and get that bastards head. We'll bury them with the honor they deserved." Natsu said in a hushed kindhearted tone that let Minerva know he was here for her.

They didn't know how long they stayed there while Minerva cried but when they went to move they grabbed the dagger then set of and found a set of stairs leading to the next area. Natsu went over to Dobengal's body closed his glassed over eyes and grabbed his sword and scabbard and slung it across his back. "Dobengal your sword will rend the proof this bastard is dead." Natsu said under his breathe soft enough so Minerva couldn't hear him. Minerva used her territory magic to store Dobengal's body so they didn't have to leave him. They eventually ventured down to the bottom of the chasm and found the bodies. Only part of the demon was left. Natsu decapitated the demon as Minerva slowly tended to Gregor's body and stored it the same as Dobengal's body. They had the head of the demon they set off to leave that accused place.

 **Back at the fortress.**

Natsu and Minerva were spotted by the sentries and the Mayor met them at the gate of the fort with his interpreter. Once the head was delivered the Mayor asked about their comrades and Natsu shook his head. Minerva had been expending her magic to store their bodies and she couldn't do it any longer causing both of their bodies to appear and Minerva passed out due to magical depletion. This shocked the Mayor and Interpreter as they weren't expecting the Lady of Sabertooth to collapse and have the corpses of two Sabertooth Mages on their doorstep. Natsu quickly scooped up Minerva and calmly asked if there was a place that they could rest as a he too was close to passing out. The mayor Lead them to a room with two beds and the Interpreter got the morgue to take the bodies. Natsu made sure to stress that they were to be respected or they'd learn why they call him one of the most destructive mages.

 **A few days later.**

Sting had received word of the jobs completion but after about a day of waiting and not receiving word he got Rufus and Orga to go with him to Saibhreas Gan Teorainn. What they found when they arrived was shocking. They didn't expect to find two of their mages dead and a third passed out with Natsu being the only one awake. Sting was furious. "HOW? HOW COULD YOU LET TWO OF MY MAGES DIE!? I TRUSTED YOU! THEY TRUSTED YOU!" Sting shouted angrily.

"Sting he tried." A soft voice came from the doorway. Minerva stood in the doorway eyes red from crying. "He tried to save them stop taking your anger out on him. Did he tell you what happened?" She asked softly which threw Sting, Orga and Rufus.

"No he didn't. The only thing he has said over the past two days was that you had to be the one to explain it and when we'd try to get him to leave your side he wouldn't. Orga literally had to knock him out for him to leave your side." Sting said sighing as he couldn't get his idol to talk.

Minerva spent the next few hours explaining what happened. Orga didn't believe half of it and Rufus was shocked. The entire time Natsu sat silently in a chair looking at Minerva to, make sure she was going to be able to finish the recounting of the job. After Minerva recounted the story she was trying not to cry but they all knew she needed too. "Sting I need to talk to you." Natsu said in an emotionless tone trying to not freak anybody out.

"Yeah I'll be out there in a moment." Sting replied as Natsu left the room and waited in the hall. "I'll be back in a little bit milady."

"What is it Salamander?" Sting asked as he closed the door.

"You know that she cares for the mages in Sabertooth right? She may act like she doesn't but inside there is a broken girl." Natsu stated as a matter of fact and not something that is debatable.

"What are you talking about of course I know that she cares! She is NOT BROKEN." Sting almost shouted.

"For the longest time your guild only cared about the strong. The old Minerva would have said we were better off without the weak. But what I saw wasn't that Minerva. She cared about them. I promised Gregor id look after her. You know how I am with my word. The council may still want her to go to fairy tail and continue this whole inter-guild co-operation thing. Either way I'm going to help her." Natsu said with conviction.

* * *

So yeah that just fuckin happened. I made a guy and Murdered the fuck outta that character. im kinda a dick for that. I didnt realize while i was writing that he has te same magic set as gray. dont rip me apart for that i forgot. The Language i used was Irish on google translate. Thanks for the support. THings will get better for Minerva i promise. I wanted to give her some true issues to deal with because they just kinda glaze over the whole dark mage thing in the series. so i gave her some REAL issues.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Guys thanks for the support of this story I really appreciate it since I'm so new to this and I am very hesitant to say my writing is good. This chapter has taken a while I keep re-writing it because it doesn't fit what I want but I do appreciate your patience. All those on my Favorite authors list are also serve as inspirations mainly because I'm shit at planning and I'm winging the fuck outta this so all feedback is definitely appreciated. Please Read and Review so I can get a feel on how I'm doing. Deuces y'all and see ya on the other side.**

 **-Ace**

Chapter 3: Afterwards

The next two weeks were filled with uncertainty. Minerva didn't leave her apartment until a week after they got back. This was only for a few hours as the Funeral service for the two departed mages was scheduled for then and Natsu made certain that Minerva didn't miss it. He had to pay his respects also and he would be damned if he didn't keep his final promise to Gregor.

Now, Minerva fought against him in the beginning. She couldn't understand why a mage whom she had seen as an enemy and a weakling would want to help her. Yes it had been over a year since they last fought and he had become somewhat of a friend but she didn't understand _Why he cared this much?_ _They weren't his friends that had died, they weren't his guild mates._ _Why would he care so much about these strangers?_ She just didn't understand _._ She also was wondering _why he hadn't gone back to Fairy Tail? Why was he still here? Was there something else that he wanted? What could it be? Was he truly concerned?_ It wasn't until the funeral that she started to understand.

"Minerva we need to leave if we are going to be on time to the service." Natsu said through the door to Minerva's apartment.

"Why do you care Salamander?" Minerva cried through the door. Not believing that the dragon slayer cared.

"Minerva you are my friend and for the next six months my partner so I can't just leave you to wither into nothing if I have a chance to help in any way possible. I thought that you Sabertooth mages would understand by now that I'm a Fairy Tail mage and we are really stubborn when our friends need help." Natsu stated passionately through the door only for it to fly open and a red faced Minerva to be right in his face.

"Fine let's go. Mainly because you won't go away unless we do." Minerva snarled.

"Thank you now you're getting it!" Natsu said with a smile.

The funeral was held in the large pavilion in front of the Sabertooth guild hall. The entire place was covered in Sabertooth Banners, not the normal yellow and black ones that were there most days. The pavilion was covered in black and white banners, in the center directly in front of the Sabertooth guild hall doors there stood two 10 foot tall funeral Pyres, with a small stair case leading up to a platform that stood between them. In the center of the platform was a podium, on top of the platform stood seven seats. Seating was facing the pyres down in the pavilion, and there was a lot of it. The entire town showed up at the funeral service for the two mages.

It was around dusk when the service started. The pavilion was packed with thralls of people wanting to pay their respects to the departed Mages of their town. The defenders of the town and the ones that for the last year brought revelry to the town. The Master of Sabertooth headed the procession out of the guild hall where the final preparation of the bodies took place. Behind Master Sting the mages of Sabertooth were lined up, proceeding to enter the pavilion and take their seats. The group of the S-class mages accompanied Master Sting up to the platform in between the Pyres. From the left as you are facing the podium Yukino, Rufus, Orga, Minerva on the left. On the right going toward the podium it went Natsu, Rogue, and Master Sting. When the main procession was fully seated and set the funeral got underway.

Everyone up on the platform had something to say about the deceased, mainly memories with them and how they would be missed except for Natsu who had no real memories with them. Many people wondered why The Salamander was there. When time came for the Pyres to be lit Master Sting made a surprising announcement: "Now to send our family off we send them off in a way that befits their service to Sabertooth and to Fiore. Dragon's fire has been seen as the purest form or fire for millennia and we shall continue that belief! We ask that the only mage known to possess such fire send our mages off. Natsu Dragneel, The Fire Dragon Slayer, Please ignite the Pyres of our fallen Brothers!" Master Sting asked to the surprise of the crowd.

Natsu stood up bowed to Sting and said in a tone of pure compassion "I would be honored to send such courageous mages off Master Sting."

Natsu made his way center of the platform and stretched his arms straight parallel to the ground and shot fire from his hands igniting the Pyres in dragon's fire. While Natsu did this he said something in a very deep growling throaty voice that sounded like a dragon " _ **Mu Drem Bo Hin Sil Wah Fin Ruz Lein."**_

Master Sting stood up after Natsu ignited the pyres to explain what he had said "Now many of you must be wondering what he just uttered. It is a long forgotten Dragons prayer for the dead. It roughly translates to _We peacefully move your souls to the afterlife._ We of the Sabertooth Guild thank him for such an honor that he has bestowed upon our fallen brothers. Now we must also thank the great people of Harimau. Without your support we would never have been able to reach the position we are in now and we thank you for attending our final goodbyes for Dobengal and Gregor. Now! Please enjoy the party to celebrate the lives of our departed brothers for they would not wish to see us all crying and grieving!" Master Sting shouted to begin the festivities.

As the entire pavilion moved out to give the pyres space and move onto the festivities Natsu moved to talk to Minerva. She was not in the mood for festivities but Natsu was there to talk her into at least making an appearance. "Minerva as the Lady of Sabertooth you need to make an appearance even for a little while. I know it'll be hard but if it helps I'll be here to help you." Natsu whispered as he attempted to convince the Lady to attend.

"Natsu I appreciate your concern but seriously why are you here? I understand staying to light the pyres I really do but why do you care so much?" Minerva asked rather agitated that he was still here for reasons she couldn't see.

"Minerva can't I just worry about a friend? Why must I have an ulterior motive?" Natsu asked with genuine concern that she was so suspicious.

"Minerva. Natsu isn't trying to pull anything. He is seriously here because he is concerned for his friend. You know how he is when it comes to his friends." Master Sting said startling Minerva causing her to let out a small yelp as her entire focus was on Natsu trying to figure out what he was up to.

"Fine let's go but I'm not staying for long." Minerva finally relented.

After that conversation Minerva and Natsu went about enjoying the festivities for a little while until Natsu could see that Minerva was done and wanted to be alone. Upon seeing that Natsu quickly whisked Minerva away from the crowds and took her for a walk around the city making a longer route back to her apartment.

After the funeral service Minerva lightened up to Natsu being there. Not questioning his every move to help. A week after the funeral service the magic council arrived to escort Minerva back to Fairy Tail. The day they got into town Natsu was walking around town with Minerva, they passed a store that Natsu had visited a few days earlier. As they passed Natsu took a few big whiffs of the air and stared in the direction of the Train station while growling. Minerva looked at him curiously not understanding what had set off the inhuman growl.

"Natsu what's wrong?" Minerva asked.

"Rune Knights…." Natsu muttered.

Out of nowhere a rhythmic thumping of marches, clanking of armor hitting itself, and clinks of pikes hitting the cobblestone streets. Around the corner came two regiments of Rune Knights. Once they had fully gotten around the corner they stopped. Turned and parted in the middle. A short bright purple haired girl stood dressed in skin tight black pants with knee high black boots, a loose peach blouse closed with a white string that ended at the middle of her medium sized bust. She looked to be around 15 years old but she was barely above 5ft tall. Her hair was done in a ponytail and went down to her middle back.

"HELLLLLLO! Are you Minerrrrva?" She asked in a very childlike manner.

"Yes I am. May I ask who you are young lady?" Minerva asked politely.

"HAHAHAHAHA It's funny because you think you're older than me! Ahahahaha that's hilarious! No matter! I'm here to fetch you and take you back to Fairy Tail!" the girl said as she spun in a circle with her arms extended.

"I was planning on accompanying Natsu back tomorrow may I ask why the Magic council is sending Rune Knights and a… I'm sorry but you still haven't told us who you are?" Minerva asked slightly surprised that she forgot the original question.

"I'm Rebecca!" The girl twirled again causing Natsu to just be confused as he didn't know why the girl was twirling.

"Ok Rebecca why were you accompanied by Rune Knights to take us back to his guild?" Minerva asked getting a rather agitated at the girl's antics.

"Well you have to know they accompanied me to keep me from destroying stuffs. Well the council ordered us to and I have always wanted to meet the Lady of Sabertooth! You're so cool! I wish I was as cool and beautiful as you!" Rebecca grinned a little sheepishly.

"Well I'm honored you think that of me but why? I don't understand. Why did they order you to do that?" Minerva was very confused but Natsu had a knowing look.

"Minerva I think it's because we've been here at your place for 3 weeks not at Fairy Tail. Remember it's supposed to be guild interpolation." Natsu said as he feigned idiocy.

"Its fine there Salamander I know you aren't as stupid as you act. You've been muttering this entire time about how the council should have sent more Rune Knights if they wanted to scare you. And I'll let you know a secret before it's announced. I'm what they sent to scare you." Rebecca said as she smiled and jumped up on a ledge at the front of a store.

"WHAT!?" Natsu screamed. "YOU? You're a little girl! I mean Minerva would scare me. No offense but when you're mad you could scare Igneel." Natsu said as he quickly turned to Minerva and tried to calm her down but she was giving him a look that would have murdered a man multiple times over.

"Well I'm not a little girl I'm the new top wizard Saint because God Serena has mysteriously vanished he was a quirky one!" Rebecca stunned everyone around her with that revelation.

Minerva and Natsu just turned to look at each other than back to the girl. Than back at each other and back at the girl. Both in unison screeched "WHAT?!"

The girl just giggled as she spun in a circle on the ledge then jumped to the center of the street. "I'll let you feel my magic power to prooooove it if ya want!" She taunted as both of the mages just kind of looked at her stunned. A few seconds passed then they felt it and saw it. The ground started to crack and a crater formed underneath her. All the two mages could think was 'What the fuck?'. Such a little girl and she dwarfed their magic power by a few miles. After the magic power calmed down the little girl just giggled. "SO how about you two meet me at the train station tonight and ill escort you to Magnolia. And just to let you know Salamander, don't call me a little girl. I'm much older than you." The girl said with a stern tone. The first time the two had seen her use a serious tone at all. "OH I almost forgot! Minerva! I have a letter from the chairman for Master Sting!" She cheered as she danced around them.

"What time should we meet you at the station? And are the Rune Knights coming with us?" Natsu asked hesitantly as he did not want to piss off the girl.

"How about 10 o'clock? And nope just us! The Council sent the Knights to make sure I didn't destroy the town if you resisted. HEHEHE" Rebecca sang as she started walking toward the station. "I'll see you THERE~!" She again sang as she vanished from sight.

Both of the mages were stunned at what had just transpired. Did they get threatened by the top God of Ishgar? Or was she just absolutely fucking insane.

 **At Sabertooth.**

"MINERVA! We haven't seen you for a while! Are you okay? What happened at the service we saw you then you disappeared?" Yukino ask Lucy shifted in her seat at the sight of Minerva holding onto Natsu's arm.

"Well Yukino I was entirely comfortable at the service and Natsu here asked if I wanted to go for a walk to clear my head a little bit. And I'm doing a little better. Still can't believe they're gone…" Minerva looked as if she was about to start crying as she ended the sentence but was immediately brought into an embrace by Natsu.

"I'm so sorry Minerva! I didn't mean to!" Yukino screamed in apology.

"Its fine I'm sorry for breaking down again." Minerva said trying to calm herself and not freak out.

"Minerva didn't that crazy chick have a letter for Sting?" Natsu asked breaking Minerva from her train of thought.

"Natsu what crazy chick?" Lucy and Yukino said in almost perfect unison.

"The new Head God of Ishgar." Natsu said as if it were normal to meet the most powerful wizard saint on the streets.

"WHAT?!" They both screamed getting the attention of everyone in the guildhall. "YOU MET THE TOP WIZARD SAINT? What did she want?!"

"REALLY!" 3 dragon slayers holding their ears screamed as loud as a dragon roar. "We are right here! DON'T FUCKING YELL!" they all screeched.

"Sorry guys…" Lucy and Yukino frowned and looked down causing Sting and Rogue to feel terrible for yelling at them.

"It's ok just please remember our senses." Sting muttered trying to not feel guilty but failing miserably.

"Master Sting the Newest and Highest ranked God of Ishgar has a letter from the Council that she asked us to deliver." Minerva cut off the guilt fest not being able to take the lost puppy looks that Sting and Rogue were currently wearing.

"What does it say?" Sting asked as he got the still sealed envelope.

"Really Master Sting?" Minerva asked. "It's sealed so you have to use your magic to open it. Like all urgent requests and vital information. I thought you read the manual I gave you on standard Council procedures." Minerva was now glaring at him since he had told her that he had done it.

"Sorry I forgot! There are a lot of pages in that manual!" Sting shouted.

"Just open the letter Sting." Rogue calmly said as he looked at his partner.

"Fine." Sting answered as he pulsed his magic opening the letter.

" _Dear Master Sting of the Sabertooth Guild,_

 _Though the loss of Guild members is a tragic thing to have to go through the will of the world is forever moving forward. Given the last 3 weeks is longer than it typical for a period of morning we do feel that the mages in question being the one Minerva Orland should return to her duties within your guild and our orders for more interguild co-operation. We do regret the unfortunate loss of life on this mission but it was a voluntary mission that the Mages of Sabertooth and one Natsu Dragneel took on their own volition. I will not assume to know the mages that perished but I will assume that they would not want one of the most respected mages in the Sabertooth Guild to hesitate to save more lives than each mages does on a single job. Also given the fact that you, Master Sting, have changed from the way Master Jiemma used to run the guild I would assume that you would not want Minerva Orland to wallow in self-doubt and self-pity. Please it may seem difficult and heartless at the moment but we want what is best for the Mages of the Legal Guilds. While it is not common place for us to address this sort of issue we do however want the Mages of Fiore to grow from such tragedies._

 _With our most sincere and heartfelt sympathies,_

 _Chairman and 2_ _nd_ _Wizard Saint Draculos Hyberion and the Magic Council of Fiore._

"Well I wasn't expecting that…" Rogue was the first to break the silence after Sting got done reading the letter out to the room.

"Well it seems you must go back." Sting growled out.

"Its fine Master Sting I was planning on accompanying Natsu back tomorrow so it seems that we will just go back tonight." Minerva said with hesitation that made Lucy feel a little bit bad for the Lady of Sabertooth.

 **Meanwhile in an unknown location:**

Two hooded figures move through a mountain pass. They travel up a broken road toward on old castle that looks like it's on the verge of collapsing. The two figures meet up with two more. As they face each other voices can be heard. "Did the demon meet its end?" One figure asked.

"Yes it did. The Dagger was used and weakened its defense so the devil slayer could finish it off. He was more powerful than we expected but it doesn't affect the plan." Another said.

"Well if they could take him down doesn't that pose a problem? I mean do you really think that they wouldn't be able to handle another especially if they are weaker than Zer'el." A feminine voice said.

"They lost two strong mages to him and one now doubts her abilities. The Dragon Slayer can't do it alone but we should be very weary of him. Now let's go get the rest of the supplies for the plan." The tallest figures said in an authoritative voice.

The rest agreed and moved into the Castle walking through what looked like an illusionary front.

 **Hey guys thanks for your patience because I've been having some writers block and I started these stories out with not really a plan so ive been taking the time to try and plan out the story so it's not an ABSOLUTE FUUCKING MESS! And lastly I take inspiration from some of the other Fanfiction writers like Digemsmack (If you haven't read his stuff what the fuck are you doing here you need to get on that shit right the fuck now.). I don't like it but I get why people do. The next few chapters should have some more action I'm thinking the romance will probably take a backseat to the adventure but it's still going to be a Minerva X Natsu. Also the whole being part of different guilds might pose a problem latter but ill figure it out. Until next time y'all thanks for the support! Also am I the only one that wants a Naruto/FT fanfic with a NatsuXHinata pairing? ALSO! Am I the only one that likes Natsu Better than Naruto as a character in general? I feel like I might be because everyone I know like Naruto better. The Heiress in Time Story is also in the process for being planned out so please be patient with me as ill be leaving for Christmas for a week. Good news ill be taking my laptop so I can type when I have time. LOVE YA FACES.**

 **-Ace**


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